Hi all!I bought my chow Blue from a breeder when she was 8 weeks old. I did all of the proper steps in socializing her and training her while she was young. She is now a year and 5 months old and over the past few months I've noticed an increase in her aggression. She has always been A rough playing dog, which I try to stay on top of but I know she's just trying to play and not intentionally hurting anyone (aka running around and trying to go for your ankles).

Lately, if anyone accidentally touches her back legs or comes up behind her she snaps at them and tries to bite. She's grown up with a 3 year old boy and she's always been good with him. I recently moved out of that house and she hasn't been around kids all the time for about a month. I've noticed her losing patience and snapping more at children whenever they come around her since she's no longer exposed to children in a daily basis. I have also taken her to the groomers this past month and they said they couldn't trim her nails because she made it "too unsafe" and I have never had these issues with her going to the groomers before in the past. When I brush her now she snaps at me when doing certain parts of her body.

I'm just not sure how to go about fixing this problem. Like I said earlier she has been properly socialized and I take her everywhere with me but she is becoming too unsafe and unpredictable to people around me to continue to bring her out all the time or to have kids in my home. She is a good listener when it comes to certain things, but no matter how much I tell her no and try to punish her for snapping, it has never helped with the situation. I would like to hear if anyone has any suggestions or could know what the problem may be. Thanks!

Ok first things first. Please do not let her be around any children. If she bites a child, by the time all is said and done with cops/animal control, she will be killed. Please don't put her life at risk around anyone, but especially children.Secondly I would go to the vet and look for potential pain/injury causes for her sensitivity. Hip dysplasia is a common and painful condition but it could be anything. Get X-rays. Third chows have poor peripheral vision so if she is being approached from behind or out of her sight line she could be startled. Lastly chows respond to positive training techniques. I'm not sure what you mean by 'punishing' her?Keep her safe by keeping her away from kids/people until you can see if this is medical or something else going on.

She's always been very well behaved around kids and extremely protective over them which is why I had cause for concern when she began doing this. She has grown up are children and has never been around them unsupervised and I would like to not have to remove her from the room entirely when children are in the house especially because this is a new "behavior" from her. She has never bitten, just the way she snaps makes it cause for concern for the parents of the children, as I'm very certain she wouldn't bite but I also don't want to risk that.I will talk to the vet when I go in next weekend, I'm thinking its more her being startled from behind because she let me take a look at her back legs without issues, but its still good to find out just in case it is medical.I guess "punish" was the wrong term , as I usually tell her no and remove her from the situation. Not sure where to go from this if it turns out not to be medical as it will be hard to positively reinforce not to snap. It shouldn't be happening at all and I don't want to continue putting her in situations that cause her to do this. I've just noticed over the past couple of months shes been a lot more stand off-ish than normal and am wondering if this is a normal thing to happen as chows grow older ?

A dog that seems to switch from loving to "snappy" in a short amount of time has me running them to the vet. Chows are very stoic. They will not let you know they are in pain... but they will get upset if they feel you might accidentally hurt them more. They may growl or snap to keep you from touching them if they hurt. She seems to allow you to touch her. I am guessing this is because she knows you are gentle and she trusts you. If the children ever lean on her this may cause pain in a joint or other area. (just making guesses)